* Name: Ethan Collier
* Position: President, founder and CEO, Collier Construction
* First job: Day camp counselor at Chattanooga Nature Center
* Best part of the job: "Working with people on the front end of projects to help them get from the point where they're thinking and planning and dreaming about a new home or an addition or remodel, working through the details on the front end to make that possible. It's just so different to have a collaborative relationship with a builder. More often than not, a builder dictates how things go. They might give people a couple of little options, but they don't really listen. For me, the fun part is to listen."
* Worst part of the job: "During a recession when things are slower and work is harder to come by, having to let go of people or lay people off. To know the impact that has on people has been very difficult. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about what they're doing. I get unemployment letters in the mail and I can see they're still on unemployment. It's certainly very hard to have to make those sorts of decisions."
* Best advice: "Take joy in the relationships we have. They're so difficult, that's certainly where life gets difficult. So often in life we spend our time focusing on a million other things, all of which are very important, and relationships often take a back seat to that. If the focus can be kept on people, not that profits don't matter, but if everything else can take a back seat to relationships and individuals and people, I think we can all benefit from that."
* How to do make a career of it: Keep focused. Enhance management skills. Get hands-on experience as a builder. Become a licensed general contractor.
-- Compiled by staff writer Holly Leber